Since the inception of the Internet, many systems and methods that facilitate the communication of information between computer users have been proposed and implemented. As the ease and speed with which vast amounts of information may be sent from one computer user to another over the Internet has increased, the role of the Internet in society has increased in importance. Without a doubt, the Internet has expanded the ability of people to communicate to an extent never imagined before its inception. The Internet has allowed people of all types, with the widest variety of interests, from all corners of the globe to communicate with one another with the greatest of ease and speed.
The Internet has greatly improved two distinct aspects (among others) of the lives of computer users. First, the Internet has provided computer users with a vast amount of information that can be easily and quickly consumed. A person sitting in his or her home in Duluth, Minn. can research an innumerable number of topics by accessing information stored on the millions of servers spread around the world. Many computer users rely on the Internet to provide them up-to-the minute information about current events, weather, and the like.
A second advantage of the Internet has been the increased speed and ease with which computer users can communicate with one another. The Internet allows a computer user to send information (sometimes a very large amount of information) to be delivered to another computer user almost instantaneously. The traditional methods of communicating information between computer users over the Internet include email, web-based message boards, Internet chat rooms, instant messaging, and the like.
As is well known, an email system allows a computer user to send information to a selected number of other computer users in the form of a discrete message. The other computer user(s) can then reply with a second message and/or forward the first message to still other computer users.
Web-based message boards allow computer users to send information of various types to be ‘posted’ on a website such that other computer users can view the ‘post’ and reply if they desire. Many such message boards require users to register as members in order to view posted messages and/or reply to posted messages.
Internet chat rooms also involve a central website to which computer users must go in order to communicate with one another. In general, chat rooms allow a group of individual computer users to write messages and send them and other information to a central website to be instantly displayed to other users logged into the chat room.
Instant messaging services allow a computer user to send information instantly to one or a small number of other computer users who are also logged-in to the service at that time. The instant messaging service is often used through an application separate from a web browser, but is increasingly used within a web browser.
The foregoing methods of communication have proven instrumental in the growth of the Internet. However, there are gaps in their capabilities to efficiently spread ideas and information among groups of computer users. As an example, imagine a group of users from various parts of the world who enjoy engaging in political discussions. If one member of the group comes across a website containing information that she believes would be an interesting point of discussion within the group—an editorial column written for an online newspaper, for example—she has the following options for communicating the information to the group: 1) send an email message including her comments and the relevant weblink (“link”) to be sent to the members of the group; 2) post the link on a message board along with her comments; 3) log in to a chat room to provide those members of the group who are logged in at that time with the link; and/or 4) send an instant message to those members of the group who are logged in at that time to the IM service. Each of these options has significant drawbacks.
First, with respect to email, any further comments by the group will be contained in multiple, separate email messages which will be received at various times. The “conversation” regarding the original message will be spread out and not tied in any meaningful way to the original link. Further, the information about which the first user wished to comment will not be marked in any way on the original website, meaning that other users will have to search the website for the relevant information. Second, with respect to a message board, while all of the comments that would make up a “conversation” about the link may be located in a single place (the message board), the relevant information on the original website will not be conveniently referenced at all times near the relevant discussion. Third, with respect to a chat room, since members of the group will most likely not all be logged in at the same time, the relevant discussion may take place at different times and will not be easily accessible in its entirety. Further, the relevant information on the original website will again not be conveniently referenced at all times near the discussion. Fourth, with respect to instant messaging services, any discussion on the topic will not be accessible to members of the group who are not participating in the discussion, and again there will be no convenient link between the discussion and the relevant information on the original website.
Other systems have been proposed to address these drawbacks. For example, a system entitled “Annotea” has been created which allows users to create comments to web documents (including webpages downloaded from the Internet). A user of Annotea can create a comment in reference to an entire web document or text selected from a web document, and the comment is stored either on the user's computer or a remote server accessible through the internet. When the comments are stored on a remote server, they may be accessed by other users. The comments are represented in the web document by a small, mouse-clickable link near the selected text. Once the link is clicked the comment is displayed. Users can reply to the comments of other users.
Similarly, a service called “Annozilla” allows users to create comments for webpages and their content. Annozilla utilizes frames in the web browser to provide a sidebar for displaying comments and the text on which the user commented. The side bar is located adjacent to a frame in the web browser wherein webpages are displayed. In a top portion of the sidebar, a list of the text that has been commented on in the currently loaded webpage is shown, as well as entries for each comment. When a comment entry is selected, the comment is displayed in a lower frame within the sidebar. Annozilla also allows comments to be stored on a remote server.
A third system, called “Marginalia,” allows a user to create comments to webpages in a similar way as Annotea and Annozilla. Again, a user selects text on the webpage and is able to write a comment. The comment is then displayed in a margin adjacent to the selected text. When Marginalia is used in conjunction with a system called “Moodle,” multiple users can see other users' comments and a summary page can display comments sorted by discussion, user, etc.
These systems, however, do not address all of the significant problems that arise in systems for coordinating the communication of large amounts of information among a group of individuals. For example, such systems tend to receive voluminous amounts of information, i.e. many comments from users. It is of course important to allow users to view the comments of others, but with many users submitting comments, a user may not always be able to easily see the comments in which he or she is most interested. Second, it is important that users have the ability to differentiate themselves from one another so that they can limit the comments displayed to them if they choose to do so. A system that is completely public will quickly have too many users submitting too many comments to allow an individual user to conveniently view the information most relevant or important to him or her.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method that allows computer users to communicate information to other computer users regarding specific material found on a webpage in a simple and efficient manner. Such a system and method should be capable of efficiently sorting such information so that it is easily viewed and read by users. Users should have the ability to differentiate themselves so that selected comment material is more accessible than other comment material.